title: [Epidemiological studies of the frequency of the abuse of analgesics].
abstract: To assess the epidemiology of habitual use of analgesics in South-West Germany (i) urine specimens of employees of a factory, of patients seen by a general practitioner (GP) and of patients attending a renal clinic were examined for paracetamol; (ii) mucosa of the left renal pelvis was examined for the presence of capillary sclerosis as an index of habitual use of phenacetin or paracetamol in 258 consecutive autopsies; (iii) in a regional renal clinic, the frequency of analgesic nephropathy was determined amongst outpatients and amongst patients on hemodialysis. Paracetamol was found in the urine of 4.1% of factory employees, in 3.5% of patients seen by a GP and in 2% of patients seen in the renal clinic. Capillary sclerosis was found in only one of 258 autopsies, in a patient dialysed for analgesic nephropathy. During the past two years, analgesic nephropathy was diagnosed in 3% of all patients seen for nephrological examination. Analgesic nephropathy was the cause of terminal renal failure in 15 of 166 patients (9.4%) on dialysis. The present study documents that habitual use of paracetamol-type analgesics continues in the general population despite the ban of phenacetin.
authors.affiliation: Sektion Nephrologie, Universität Heidelberg.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Küster
authors.forename: J X
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waldherr
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walter-Sack
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Rieser
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ritz
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000652:urine; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005860:Germany, West / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D007682:Kidney Pelvis / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010615:Phenacetin; D015995:Prevalence; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012598:Sclerosis; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000082:Acetaminophen; D010615:Phenacetin
vernacular_title: Epidemiologische Untersuchungen zur Häufigkeit des Analgetika-Abusus.